Questions remain over Zulu monarch’s successor
THE burial of the late Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini has been concluded and attention has shifted to who will succeed him, or at least act on the throne until an heir is identified.
With that on the minds and lips of many, the Zulu royalty shot down the debate, saying only God knows who will succeed the king.
Speaking on behalf of princes and princesses yesterday at KwaKhet-homthandayo royal palace in Nongoma, where there was a memorial service for the late king, Princess Thembi Ndlovu (née Zulu) told the world the debate was premature.
“Let me deal with this issue because some people like to ask who is going to succeed the king. No one knows who will be next on the throne; only God knows that person because he is the only one who knows the lifespan of a person.
“Even the king did not know, even when he thought he knew that person. The only person who knows the real truth is God,” she said in Zulu.
On Tuesday it was announced that the king’s will would be read out after the memorial service and there were expectations that it could name the next king. It was not clear whether that happened or not.
The 72-year-old king died last Friday and was buried at midnight yesterday. His burial was behind closed doors, the location of his grave is not known, and only a few men were allowed to take part.
The memorial service was a colourful affair, later marred by an unruly incident of Zulu regiments which stormed the palace after they were blocked from taking part due to Covid19 regulations.
Their behaviour put the security of President Cyril Ramaphosa (who came to deliver the king’s eulogy) at risk, and he had to be whisked out of the palace through an exit hurriedly opened through the fence.
Throughout the service, unruly regiments in full Zulu traditional gear, and carrying traditional weapons such as spears, knobkerries and shields, camped at the gates of the palace, trying to get in.
An armed battalion of SAPS officers kept them at bay for hours by closing the iron gate.
In retaliation, the angry regiments, made up of about 150 people, said no one would leave. They closed the road leading in and out of the palace.
Then came the time for Ramaphosa and some VIP mourners to leave the palace and the regiments were having none of it. They blocked the armed SAPS battalion from allowing mourners to leave.
It was not immediately clear whether the SAPS battalion feared a stampede and therefore kept closing the gate.
What would have been a chaotic scene was averted by a quick-thinking group of presidential protection unit members who tore down the royal razor fence and opened a temporary exit point for the president’s convoy.
Ramaphosa’s convoy sped off while some VIP protectors in camouflage uniforms ran on the side, protecting the president and pushing aside several puzzled mourners, who it seemed had no idea what was happening.
After gaining entry to the palace, the slogan chanting and singing regiments marched to the main house of mourning inside the palace and, as a sign of respect, bowed in front of it.